KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today emphasised that the coalition has never discussed removing MCA, instead reaffirming its commitment to maintaining the strong spirit of all component parties.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also UMNO president and Deputy Prime Minister, said individuals who mooted the idea of expelling MCA were "daydreaming".

"We have never been influenced by any pressure to remove any component party from BN.

"It has never been discussed (removing MCA from BN). That suggestion is merely the demand of those who are 'daydreaming'," he said at a press conference after chairing the Special Homestay Committee Meeting at Parliament Building.

BN comprises UMNO, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah.

Recently, media reports quoted MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong as revealing that "outsiders" had suggested that UMNO remove MCA from BN.

-- BERNAMA